The Charity Commission has disqualified three trustees amid concerns over their handling of more than £750,000 in funds from the aid charity they ran.

The bans have been handed out by the regulator following its two-year investigation into the running of Bedfordshire based Quba Trust, which alleviates poverty, provides disaster relief and promotes the Islamic faith.

The trustees were “unable to account” for more than £250,000 in the charity’s funds that were transferred overseas and a further £500,000 was “lacking a satisfactory financial audit trail”, found the regulator.

This includes for a four-year period from 2017 all three trustees authorising payments of charity money totalling more than £200,000 to their own bank accounts and those of companies they are connected to. This includes money for expenses including taxis, hotels, and freelance staff salaries.

Concerns have also been raised by the regulator over the hiring of a consultant for more than £36,000 by the charity while it was largely inactive and under investigation.

“The former trustees failed to provide any justification for the decision, define the consultant’s role, or demonstrate any tangible outcomes from their work," said the regulator.

A report into the charity found that their actions amounted to misconduct and/or mismanagement.

This was because they failed to comply with the charity’s governing rules, displayed a
“serious disregard for, or lack of understanding” of financial management of a charity and failed to provide evidence of how charity funds were used.

Poor record keeping, late filing of accounts and ignoring Commission directions and orders to improve were among other criticisms levied by the regulator.

Bans ranging from five to 10 years

Their bans took affect from July this year, with one, Dawood Masood, disqualified from charity leadership roles for 10 years.

This is the longest ban handed down as Masood is a practicing accountant and "charity expert" who works for other charities.

He “should have demonstrated a greater level of knowledge and met higher standards than other trustees”, said the regulator.

“As such, the Commission takes the view he should have known and been sufficiently diligent to the legal and regulatory framework in which the charity operates, including maintaining sufficient records to evidence the end use of the charity’s funds and submitting accounting information on time,” it added.

Another trustee, Affaf Amir, has been banned for seven and a half years, while the third, Akthar Hazarvi, has been disqualified for just over five years.

Since its investigation the Commission says that the current trustees “have taken a number of steps to address the failures and weaknesses in the charity’s governance”.

The regulator’s head of compliance visits and inspections Joshua Farbridge said: “Charities which operate internationally can be more vulnerable to abuse or harm as a result of where and how they operate.

“Our routine monitoring visit identified concerns which should have been addressed by the former trustees but were not.

“Trusteeship is an important public role that carries legal duties and responsibilities, which includes acting in a charity’s best interests and managing its resources responsibly. In this case, the former trustees we have taken action against failed to meet the standards expected of them, leading to serious governance and financial management failings.

“Our inquiry’s findings serve as a reminder of the duties placed on trustees. When those duties are breached, public trust and confidence in charities are undermined.

“The Commission, as demonstrated in this case, will act to protect the integrity of both the charity involved and the wider charitable sector.”

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